When I was a kid in Southern California, the street I grew up, my friend's parents included aerospace workers, a few engineers, auto workers, a couple contractors, a couple of restaurant owners, a bakery owner, a doctor, a few nurses, a fireman, a policeman, a county road worker, a teacher, a security guard a route driver and a few salesmen.
When each house would add a den or redo a roof, most of the men (and a lot of boys) were involved. Virtually everyone fixed their own vehicles, often with help. Almost no one hired plumbers, electricians or gardeners. People took the tubes out of their TV down to the drug store where they had a test stand and a rack of tubes.
In grades 7-12, boys generally took wood-shop, metal-shop, auto-shop and electronics. Those classes are no longer offered at most public schools in California.
Virtually everyone took driver-ed when they were 15, got a driving permit at 15 1/2, got their license when they were 16, and got a job to buy a car, soon after. Most boys owned their own car and was wrenching on it before they graduated high school.